The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 303 Volume Three Capitals of Han

The morning light is dim and the east is about to turn white.

Chariots, cavalry, guards, various flags and ceremonial objects were displayed in the Luoyang Gold Market. A ceremonial officer said "go", and hundreds of civil and military officials walked in an orderly manner and came to the front of the throne.

If a grand court meeting was held in the Weiyang Palace, tens of thousands of officials would enter at the same time. As the saying goes, dukes, ministers, generals, officials, and hundreds of officials would come to pay their respects; the barbarians, Mo, Hu, and Qiang would pay tribute; and the county accountants and clan members would meet...

In the past, after Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang held his first grand court meeting under the chairmanship of Confucian scholars, he also said happily, "Today I know how noble it is to be an emperor!"
But today's grand court meeting seemed a little shabby.

The Luoyang Gold Market was several times larger than the East and West Markets in Chang'an. Although there was a large open area in the center, there was no high platform to show nobility and no stairs to show dignity, and in fact, the majesty of the emperor could not be felt.

In addition, Luoyang was in a dilapidated state after all. Even though the name "Jinshi" was hung with the word "Jin", it could not conceal its desolation within.

It was the first time that officials of the Han Dynasty held a court meeting in such a harsh environment. Many people began to complain why the emperor did not find a place that could be slightly sheltered from the wind and rain to hold the court meeting.

Fortunately, the emperor always has "a little humanity".

Normally, when people went to court, they would kneel and sit on the couch.

Perhaps because this year it was outdoors, on the slightly muddy ground, they didn't just lay out mats for everyone to sit on. Instead, they prepared hundreds of stools and placed them in the center of the Gold Market.

The Hu stool was introduced by Emperor Ling, but because its name contained the word "Hu", it was ultimately not considered presentable.

If it were an ordinary day, when the emperor wanted to set up a Hu stool at a grand court meeting, everyone would probably hold up the "Book of Zhou Rites" and throw it in front of the emperor.

But now... when we think about the fact that everyone's buttocks will be able to sit safely on the stools and their backs will be able to lean comfortably on the backs of the chairs, we can't help but admire it -

Really fragrant!

As the civil and military officials entered the venue, the ceremonial officials chanted again.

The one thousand people who had been selected earlier filed into the venue.

Everyone looked at everything in front of them curiously. At the same time, the situation became uncontrollably out of control, and there was a constant noise coming from them -

"Where is the emperor? Where is the emperor?"

"The emperor hasn't come out yet!"

"Where's the corn? Where's the corn you promised to distribute?"

"Damn it! Why do you have to get up so early for the court meeting? Is being the emperor so tiring?"

"..."

"quiet!"

It took Lu Bu and Zhang Liao personally leading their warriors wearing pheasant crowns to suppress the riot. They were finally able to seat the thousand civilians on nearby chairs and silence them.

When the ceremonial officer saw that the scene had returned to solemnity, he continued to sing.

Immediately.

The sound of bells, drums and ritual music began.

A carriage surrounded by eunuchs slowly came to the front from the back and stopped in front of the large chair in the center.

Liu Xie wore a black robe, a purple skirt, a white silk belt, a yellow knee-length apron, a white gauze inner garment, and red shoes. He wore a crown with twelve tassels on his head, made of tung wood, and covered with silk, black on the outside and red on the inside, round in front and square in the back. The tassels were five colors, red, white, green, yellow, and black in sequence. The crown was supported by a jade balance, and the button was pierced with a jade hairpin. The button, the crown guard, and the tassel were all decorated with gold, and the ears were tied with black silk hanging from the left and right.

As Liu Xie stepped heavily on the solid ground, the sound of ritual music came to an abrupt end. The only sound left in the entire Jin City was the emperor's firm and heavy footsteps. He walked step by step to the dragon throne in the center, then turned and looked at the civil and military officials.

"Long live my emperor!"

All the civil and military officials in the venue saluted.

At this moment, even without the high platform and jade steps, people can still feel the emperor's supreme majesty!
Some of the people around who had been somewhat absent-minded became nervous as the emperor appeared, and bowed down to pay their respects along with all the officials.

Maybe at this time, someone finally realized——

What they are participating in is not just a simple "market".

It is a central meeting that can determine the prosperity of the empire!
If the man is a giant.

The grand court meeting every year is when the heart of this giant beats!
Liu Xie stood in front of the dragon throne and looked outside.

At the moment, because there is no high platform, Liu Xie actually can’t see anything.

But as the faces of the people around him appeared, Liu Xie felt that he could see everything!
"No gift!"

Liu Xie waved his sleeves and sat on the dragon throne.

When the ceremonial officer saw the emperor take his seat, he finally began to announce—

Great court meeting,
Start!
Xun Yu, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, was the first to step out, unfolding a scroll of official documents and beginning to read aloud:

"In Jingzhao County, the yield per mu was five shi, and last year there were 170,000 hectares of cultivated land, an increase from the 150,000 hectares of cultivated land in Jian'an."

"Among them, Duling increased by 3,000 hectares, Zheng increased by 1,000 hectares, Xinfeng increased by 5,000 hectares, Lantian increased by 2,000 hectares, Changling increased by 500 hectares, and Shang increased by 3,000 hectares..."

"In Zuofengyi, the yield per mu is four shi. Last year, there were 240,000 hectares of cultivated land, an increase of..."

"In Youfufeng, the yield per mu is four shi. Last year, there were 300,000 hectares of cultivated land, an increase of..."

……

Xun Yu read out the somewhat boring numbers one by one, but all the civil and military officials were listening attentively.

Simply because this is their political achievement in the past year.

People eat for food.

Let’s not talk about other things for now.

Food is the foundation of the Han Dynasty.

If you can increase the cultivated land and per-mu yield, you will definitely be a good official!

But this year was a little different. Because of the advent of the curved plow and fertilizers, the cultivated land area and per-acre yield in the second year of Jian'an were both rising rapidly, with almost no place seeing a decrease.

Every time the number of cultivated land in a county increased, all the officials looked happy, quietly feeling the big man's gradually plump figure.

After Xun Yu finished reading out the arable land and grain output in Guanzhong, Liangzhou, Yizhou, Jingzhou and Bingzhou, all the officials present blushed.

This was because, in the third year of Jian'an, the arable land owned by the imperial court had reached 2.7 million hectares!
Fifty acres makes up one hectare.

In other words, the court currently has 13.5 million acres of arable land!
Let's calculate it based on the yield of four stones per mu.

In the second year of Jian'an, the grain output of the Han Dynasty had reached 54 million dan!
Considering the amount of land that the Han Dynasty can control today, this output is already quite amazing!
This is not over yet.

As Xun Yu finished reading out the grain production, more officials began to report on tax revenue.

Salt, iron, tariffs, commercial taxes...

With the development of the Hedong salt administration, the prosperity of the handicraft industry caused by the emergence of the pedal spinning wheel and the hundred-fold steel-making process, and the opening of roads between the Western Regions and Shu...the tax revenue in just one year last year had reached 100 million coins!

Except for a very small number of officials who collected these data, everyone else looked at each other in confusion.

From the development of Guanzhong, from the prosperity of Chang'an, and from the small details around us, we can actually feel the prosperity of the Han Dynasty after entering the Jian'an period.

But this prosperity visible to the naked eye is too abstract after all.

And when a series of figures were slapped in their faces during this grand court assembly, they realized how horrific the development of the court had been in the previous year!
Many officials even had tears in their eyes as they listened.

These tears were for the joy of the revival of the Han Dynasty, and also for the joy of having their hard work paid off.

As specific numbers appeared before us, all the efforts of everyone in the past few years became concrete.

Just when many officials were immersed in the prosperity of the Han Dynasty, Shangshu Pushe Xun Yu once again stood up.

Still reciting those somewhat boring numbers.

But this time, the joy on the faces of all the officials disappeared, replaced by anger and shame.

"Henan Yin, twenty-one cities, in the fifth year of Yonghe, there were 280,486 households and 11827 people."

"In the second year of Jian'an, there were 6,702 households and 32,710 people, a decrease of 200,000 households."

"Among them, Luoyang..."

……

"Nanyang County, thirty-seven cities, in the third year of Yonghe, there were 528,551 households and 2,439,618 people."

"In the second year of Jian'an, there were 35,464 households and 116,327 people, a decrease of 490,000 households."

"Among them, Wan County..."

……

This is the increase and decrease in the number of registered residents in Henan Yin and Nanyang areas.

Just now, everyone was so happy about the prosperity of Guanzhong and other places, and now they are so sad about the desolation of Luoyang and other places...

It is often said in books that only one out of ten survives.

But in Luoyang and Nanyang, how could it be that only one in ten people survived? It was clearly a thousand miles of barren land, with no one alive!
The contrast between the two places was so great that many officials felt a sense of absurdity.

It’s the same world.

Even Luoyang and Nanyang are not far from Guanzhong, so why did it become like this?

But they obviously can't fool themselves.

Because they are now in Luoyang, in the gold market of Luoyang City.

Even if Xun Yu deceived them with the numbers, the scene around them could never be faked.

The scene outside Guanzhong...really, it's as bad as everyone imagines!
Liu Xie slowly looked at the officials sitting below.

But more often than not, Liu Xie looked at the people of Luoyang in the distance.

When these people first heard that Guanzhong was so prosperous, their eyes were filled with longing.

But this yearning quickly turned into anger.

But when the household registration in Luoyang was changed, the anger turned into silence.

th.

After all, the people of Luoyang became somewhat numb under the huge contrast, and they also didn't know what the emperor's intention was in doing this.

Not to mention the Luoyang people who were listening.

Even most of the officials didn't know what the emperor was going to do at this moment.

Everyone was originally happy and harmoniously regarded this grand court meeting as a victorious grand court meeting, a perfect grand court meeting, and a happy grand court meeting. That was enough. Why did they have to bring up the situations in Luoyang and Nanyang at the end to make things worse?
……

"Your Majesty."

The emperor finally spoke at this time.

"I want to ask you, is the Han Dynasty really only half of the world?"

"Is Chang'an really the only capital of the Han Dynasty?"

"Luoyang, the Eastern Capital; Chang'an, the Western Capital; Wancheng, the Southern Capital... these are the three capitals of the Han Dynasty chosen by Emperor Shizu himself!"

"But Luoyang and Wancheng, how can they still have the aura of an imperial capital?"

(End of this chapter)